Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday launched a scathing attack and accused the Opposition parties of prioritizing their personal interests over the welfare of the nation.

Virtually inaugurating the new integrated terminal building of the Veer Savarkar Airport here, he said that the facility will boost tourism and strengthen the economy of the archipelago.

"Their focus is the family first, the nation nothing,"

Taking a swipe at the two-day meeting of Opposition parties in Bengaluru, PM Modi said that people are saying this is gathering to promote corruption. These leaders can give a guarantee of Rs 20 lakh crore scam, the PM said.

"The Opposition parties have given a clean chit to the DMK despite corruption cases in Tamil Nadu. The Left and the Congress are also mum on panchayat poll violence in West Bengal despite attacks on their cadre." "They (opposition parties) are not concerned about the development of the children of the country's poor. Their common minimum programme is to increase corruption for their family," Modi said.

"In democracy, it is of the people, by the people and for the people. But for the dynastic political parties, it is of the family, by the family and for the family. Family first, nation nothing. This is their motto... There is hatred, corruption and appeasement politics. The country is a victim of the fire of dynastic politics. For them, only their family's growth matters not that of the poor in the country...," the PM said.

Taking a swipe at the opposition, PM Modi said "Today, people of the country have already decided to bring us back in 2024. So, people who are responsible for the plight of India have opened their shops...24 ke liye 26 hone waale rajnaitik dalon par ye bada fit baith'ta hai. They are singing some other song but the reality is something else. A label of something else has been put up but the product is someone else's. There is a guarantee of poison of casteism and immense corruption at their shops. Now, they are in Bengaluru."

"For a long time in India, development was only restricted to the big cities due to the selfish politics by some parties, which led to tribal and island regions being deprived of development," the Prime Minister added.

In an apparent dig at Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress's Rahul Gandhi, Modi said, “People of the country say that this is a 'Kattar Bhrashtachar Sammelan'... Another speciality of this meeting is that if someone is out on bail for a corruption of crore of rupees, they are seen with great respect. If the entire family is out on bail, they are more honoured...If someone insults a community and is punished by the court, he is honoured...”

Modi claimed that tourist inflows to Andaman and Nicobar Islands have doubled since 2014 and will increase multiple times in the coming years due to the development of infrastructure in the archipelago.

"We brought submarine optical cable fibre to the islands and built a medical college in Port Blair. Our government allotted Rs 48,000 crore for the development of the archipelago in the last nine years. This is double of what was spent by the previous government," he said.

"The tricolour was unfurled in Andaman and Nicobar Islands (in 1943) even before it was hoisted at Red Fort after India got Independence. But there were still signs of slavery. We removed those by renaming several islands to honour our freedom struggle," he added.

Earlier in the day, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, who reached the airport, unveiled a statue of V D Savarkar on the premises and took a tour of the establishment.

He was accompanied by Union Minister of State for Road, Transport and Highways and Civil Aviation, General (Retd.) V K Singh.

The building is shaped like a shell, depicting the natural environs of the islands.

The entire terminal will have 100 per cent natural lighting for 12 hours a day which will be achieved through skylights on the roof.

Due to a surge in passenger traffic, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) constructed the NITB at an estimated cost of Rs707.73 crores.

With a total built-up area of 40,837 sq metres, the new terminal building will have the capacity to handle 1,200 passengers during peak hours and around 40 lakh passengers annually.

The three-storey building will be equipped with 28 check-in counters, three passenger boarding bridges and four conveyor belts.